Part-time organic sheep farmer in Exmoor National Park, rest of the time an International development economist (SE Asia & UK). Sometimes reads books, not as often as I would like. Mastodon: @dommiz@climatejustice.social
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Very good addition to the near-future dystopia genre. Reminds me of ‘The Wall’ (John Lanchester), and is a sort of counterpart to that book. The story is character-driven, instead of dwelling too much on the political circumstances that have led to the crisis that serves as the backdrop. Very thought-provoking.
Very good addition to the near-future dystopia genre. Reminds me of ‘The Wall’ (John Lanchester), and is a sort of counterpart to that book. The story is character-driven, instead of dwelling too much on the political circumstances that have led to the crisis that serves as the backdrop. Very thought-provoking.
With Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Man Booker International Prize-winner Olga …
Strange, evocative, funny.
Interesting scenario, but not entirely convincing. Would the countryside really be abandoned after a pandemic in the way the book depicts? The recent experience of COVID suggests the opposite!
The writing is excellent, beautifully crafted in some places, and that makes it pleasurable to read. However, the plot is very thin and not well structured. This is a case of a good writer looking for a better story to tell, so one to watch.
When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to …
In Sapiens, he explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked to our future. Now, …
I cannot understand the hype about Harari. As the old saying goes: the book is both good and original. Sadly, the good bits aren't original and the original parts aren't any good.
“If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?”
England, May …
It is long, yet somehow one doesn't want it to end.
The quality of writing is extraordinary, and the way Mantel evokes an era none of us can know is so bold and brazen that the reader falls under her spell completely.
Very cleverly, she does not crave our sympathy for Cromwell in any of the three books; he is a bit of a thug and a man of his time. However, the reader is invited to respect him and to admire his transformation from humble beginnings in Putney to become one of the most consequential people of the 16th Century. At the end, Cromwell accepts his fate, and its inevitability. As inevitable - and unavoidable - as a kick to the head from his father Walter. For if Cromwell had tried to live his life in a way to avoid such a miserable ending, then he would have had …
It is long, yet somehow one doesn't want it to end.
The quality of writing is extraordinary, and the way Mantel evokes an era none of us can know is so bold and brazen that the reader falls under her spell completely.
Very cleverly, she does not crave our sympathy for Cromwell in any of the three books; he is a bit of a thug and a man of his time. However, the reader is invited to respect him and to admire his transformation from humble beginnings in Putney to become one of the most consequential people of the 16th Century. At the end, Cromwell accepts his fate, and its inevitability. As inevitable - and unavoidable - as a kick to the head from his father Walter. For if Cromwell had tried to live his life in a way to avoid such a miserable ending, then he would have had no life worth living at all.
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company is a 2019 history book by William Dalrymple. It recounts …
During the political upheaval of Tudor-era England, the lawyer Matthew Shardlake must decide where his loyalties lie in "one of …
A gallery attendant at the Hermitage. A young jazz buff in Tokyo. A crooked British …
Another winner from Mitchell. I have read most of his other works, so came late to this debut. It has his trademark style of nested stories, which he later perfected in books such as Cloud Atlas. I did sense that this book started as a collection of short stories that he then strung together in a novel. He is so bursting with ideas perhaps this form suits him best. But perhaps I am just too thick to understand the connection that links all the stories together. Not that it matters, as the book is a great read, with some stories (such as the Mountain Tea Shack) that are evocative, moving and immersive. What more could one want from a novel?
The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is to distinguish it from Mitchell’s other great books. I therefore use separate calibrated scale for Mitchell. His 4 …
Another winner from Mitchell. I have read most of his other works, so came late to this debut. It has his trademark style of nested stories, which he later perfected in books such as Cloud Atlas. I did sense that this book started as a collection of short stories that he then strung together in a novel. He is so bursting with ideas perhaps this form suits him best. But perhaps I am just too thick to understand the connection that links all the stories together. Not that it matters, as the book is a great read, with some stories (such as the Mountain Tea Shack) that are evocative, moving and immersive. What more could one want from a novel?
The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is to distinguish it from Mitchell’s other great books. I therefore use separate calibrated scale for Mitchell. His 4 star book would be anyone else’s 5 start master work.
